Section VI Geographical envelope and physical-geographical zoning. Geographical envelope, its properties and integrity

They penetrate each other and are in close interaction. There is a continuous exchange of matter and energy between them.

The upper boundary of the geographic envelope is drawn along the stratopause, since before this boundary the thermal effect of the earth's surface on atmospheric processes is felt; the boundary of the geographic envelope in the lithosphere is often combined with the lower limit of the hypergenesis region (sometimes the base of the stratisphere, the average depth of seismic or volcanic foci, the base of the earth's crust, and the level of zero annual temperature amplitudes are taken as the lower boundary of the geographic envelope). The geographic envelope completely covers the hydrosphere, descending in the ocean 10-11 km below sea level, the upper zone of the earth's crust and the lower part of the atmosphere (25-30 km thick layer). The greatest thickness of the geographical shell is close to 40 km. The geographical envelope is the object of study of geography and its branch sciences.

Terminology

Despite criticism of the term “geographical envelope” and the difficulties in defining it, it is actively used in geography and is one of the main concepts in Russian geography.

The idea of ​​the geographical shell as the “outer sphere of the earth” was introduced by the Russian meteorologist and geographer P. I. Brounov (). The modern concept was developed and introduced into the system of geographical sciences by A. A. Grigoriev (). The history of the concept and controversial issues are most successfully discussed in the works of I. M. Zabelin.

Concepts similar to the concept of the geographical envelope also exist in foreign geographical literature ( earth's shell A. Getner and R. Hartshorn, geosphere G. Karol, etc.). However, there the geographical envelope is usually considered not as a natural system, but as a set of natural and social phenomena.

There are other earthly shells at the boundaries of the connection of different geospheres.

Components of the geographic envelope

Earth's crust

The earth's crust is the upper part of solid earth. It is separated from the mantle by a boundary with a sharp increase in seismic wave velocities - the Mohorovicic boundary. The thickness of the crust ranges from 6 km under the ocean to 30-50 km on the continents. There are two types of crust - continental and oceanic. In the structure of the continental crust, three geological layers are distinguished: sedimentary cover, granite and basalt. The oceanic crust is composed predominantly of basic rocks, plus sedimentary cover. The earth's crust is divided into lithospheric plates of different sizes, moving relative to each other. The kinematics of these movements is described by plate tectonics.

Troposphere

Its upper limit is at an altitude of 8-10 km in polar, 10-12 km in temperate and 16-18 km in tropical latitudes; lower in winter than in summer. The lower, main layer of the atmosphere. Contains more than 80% of the total mass of atmospheric air and about 90% of all water vapor present in the atmosphere. Turbulence and convection are highly developed in the troposphere, clouds arise, and cyclones and anticyclones develop. Temperature decreases with increasing altitude with an average vertical gradient of 0.65°/100 m

The following are accepted as “normal conditions” at the Earth’s surface: density 1.2 kg/m3, barometric pressure 101.34 kPa, temperature plus 20 °C and relative humidity 50%. These conditional indicators have purely engineering significance.

Stratosphere

The upper limit is at an altitude of 50-55 km. The temperature increases with increasing altitude to a level of about 0 °C. Low turbulence, negligible water vapor content, increased ozone content compared to the lower and overlying layers (maximum ozone concentration at altitudes of 20-25 km).

Hydrosphere

The hydrosphere is the totality of all the Earth's water reserves. Most of the water is concentrated in the ocean, much less in the continental river network and groundwater. There are also large reserves of water in the atmosphere, in the form of clouds and water vapor.

Some of the water is in a solid state in the form of glaciers, snow cover, and permafrost, making up the cryosphere.

Biosphere

The biosphere is a collection of parts of the earth's shells (litho-, hydro- and atmosphere), which is populated by living organisms, is under their influence and is occupied by the products of their vital activity.

Anthroposphere (Noosphere)

The anthroposphere or noosphere is the sphere of interaction between man and nature. Not recognized by all scientists.

Notes

Literature

• Brounov P.I. Course of physical geography, St. Petersburg, 1917.
• Grigoriev A. A. Experience in analytical characterization of the composition and structure of the physical-geographical shell of the globe, L.-M., 1937.
• Grigoriev A. A. Patterns of the structure and development of the geographical environment, M., 1966.

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See what “Geographical envelope” is in other dictionaries: GEOGRAPHICAL ENVIRONMENT

Modern encyclopedia Geographical envelope - Earth (landscape shell), the sphere of interpenetration and interaction of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. It has a complex spatial structure. The vertical thickness of the geographic shell is tens of kilometers. Natural processes in... ...

Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary geographic envelope - A complex natural complex in which the upper part of the lithosphere, the entire hydrosphere, the lower layers of the atmosphere and all living matter on Earth (biosphere) touch, mutually penetrate and interact, serves as the main object of study of physical... ...

Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary Dictionary of Geography - Earth (landscape shell), the sphere of interpenetration and interaction of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. Has complex spatial differentiation. The vertical thickness of the geographic shell is tens of kilometers. Integrity...

Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary encyclopedic Dictionary - the shell of the Earth, including the earth's crust, hydrosphere, lower atmosphere, soil cover and the entire biosphere. The term was introduced by academician A. A. Grigoriev. The upper boundary of the geographic envelope is located in the atmosphere at a height. 20–25 km below... ...

Modern encyclopedia Geographical encyclopedia - landscape shell, epigeosphere, shell of the Earth in which the lithosphere, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere and Biosphere touch and interact. It is characterized by a complex composition and structure. The upper limit of the G. region. it is advisable to carry out...

See what “Geographical envelope” is in other dictionaries: Great Soviet Encyclopedia - (landscape shell), the shell of the Earth, covering the lower. layers of the atmosphere, surface layers of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. Naib. thickness approx. 40 km. Integrity of G. o. determined by continuous energy and mass exchange between land and atmosphere...

Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary GEOGRAPHICAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE EARTH - (landscape shell) the sphere of interpenetration and interaction of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. Has complex spatial differentiation. The vertical thickness of the geographic shell is tens of kilometers. Integrity... ...

Big Encyclopedic Dictionary- The landscape shell of the Earth, within which the lower layers of the atmosphere, near-surface layers of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere touch, penetrate each other and interact. Includes the entire biosphere and hydrosphere; in the lithosphere covers... ... Technical Translator's Guide

The geographical envelope of the earth or landscape envelope, the sphere of interpenetration and interaction of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. It is characterized by a complex composition and structure. The vertical thickness of the geographic shell is tens of kilometers. The integrity of the geographic envelope is determined by the continuous exchange of energy and mass between the land and the atmosphere, the World Ocean and organisms. Natural processes in the geographic shell are carried out due to the radiant energy of the Sun and the internal energy of the Earth. Within the geographical shell, humanity arose and is developing, drawing resources from the shell for its existence and influencing it.

The upper boundary of the geographic envelope should be drawn along the stratopause, since Before this point, the thermal effect of the earth's surface on atmospheric processes is felt. The boundary of the geographic envelope in the lithosphere is combined with the lower limit of the hypergenesis region. Sometimes the base of the stratisphere, the average depth of seismic or volcanic sources, the base of the earth's crust, and the level of zero annual temperature amplitudes are taken as the lower boundary of the geographic envelope. Thus, the geographic shell completely covers the hydrosphere, descending in the ocean 10-11 km below the Earth's surface, the upper zone of the earth's crust and the lower part of the atmosphere (25-30 km thick layer). The greatest thickness of the geographical shell is close to 40 km.

The qualitative differences between the geographic shell and other shells of the Earth are as follows. The geographic envelope is formed under the influence of both terrestrial and cosmic processes; it is exceptionally rich in various types of free energy; the substance is present in all states of aggregation; the degree of aggregation of matter is extremely diverse - from free elementary particles - from atoms, ions, molecules to chemical compounds and complex biological bodies; the concentration of heat coming from the Sun; the presence of human society.

The main material components of the geographical shell are the rocks that make up the earth's crust in form - relief), air masses, water accumulations, soil cover and biocenoses; In polar latitudes and high mountains, the role of ice accumulations is significant.

The main energy components are gravitational energy, internal heat of the Earth, radiant energy from the Sun and energy from cosmic rays. Despite the limited set of components, their combinations can be very diverse; this depends on the number of components included in the combination and on their internal variations, since each component is also a very complex natural complex and, most importantly, on the nature of their interaction and interconnections, i.e., on the geographical structure.

The geographical envelope has the following important features:

1) the integrity of the geographical shell, due to the continuous exchange of matter and energy between its component parts, since the interaction of all components connects them into a single material system, in which a change in even one link entails a concomitant change in all the others.

2) The presence of a circulation of substances and the energy associated with it, ensuring the repetition of the same processes and phenomena and their high overall efficiency with a limited volume of the initial substance participating in these processes. The complexity of the cycles is different: some of them are mechanical movements (atmospheric circulation, a system of sea surface currents), others are accompanied by a change in the state of aggregation of matter (the circulation of water on Earth), and thirdly, its chemical transformation also occurs (biological cycle). The gyres, however, are not closed, and the differences between their initial and final stages indicate the development of the system.

3) Rhythm, i.e. the repetition of various processes and phenomena over time. It is caused mainly by astronomical and geological reasons. There are daily rhythms (change of day and night), annual (change of seasons), intrasecular (for example, cycles of 25-50 years, observed in fluctuations in climate, glaciers, lake levels, river water flow, etc.), supersecular (for example , change every 1800-1900 years from the cool-humid climate phase to the dry and warm phase), geological (Caledonian, Hercynian, Alpine cycles of 200-240 million years each), etc. Rhythms, like cycles, are not closed: the state that was at the beginning of the rhythm does not repeat at the end of it.

4).Continuity of development of the geographical shell as some kind of integral system under the influence of the contradictory interaction of exogenous and endogenous forces. The consequences and features of this development are: a) territorial differentiation of the land surface, ocean and seabed into areas that differ in internal features and external appearance (landscapes, geocomplexes); determined by spatial changes in geographic structure; special forms of territorial differentiation - geographic zoning, b) polar asymmetry, i.e., significant differences in the nature of the geographical envelope in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres; manifested in the distribution of land and sea (the vast majority of land is in the Northern Hemisphere), climate, composition of flora and fauna, the nature of landscape zones, etc.; c) heterochrony or metachrony of the development of the geographical envelope, due to the spatial heterogeneity of the nature of the Earth, as a result of which at the same moment different territories are either in different phases of an equally directed evolutionary process, or differ from each other in the direction of development (examples: ancient glaciation in different areas The earth began and ended at the same time; in some geographical zones the climate becomes drier, in others at the same time it becomes wetter, etc.).

The geographical envelope is the subject of the study of physical geography.

Advances in seismology have given humanity more detailed knowledge about the Earth and the layers that make it up. Each layer has its own properties, composition and characteristics that affect the main processes occurring on the planet. The composition, structure and properties of the geographical shell are determined by its main components.

Ideas about the Earth at different times

Since ancient times, people have sought to understand the formation and composition of the Earth. The earliest speculations were entirely unscientific, in the form of myths or religious fables involving gods. During the period of antiquity and the Middle Ages, several theories arose about the origin of the planet and its proper composition. The most ancient theories represented the earth as a flat sphere or cube. Already in the 6th century BC, Greek philosophers began to argue that the earth was actually round and contained minerals and metals. In the 16th century, it was suggested that the Earth consists of concentric spheres and is hollow inside. In the early 19th century, mining and the industrial revolution contributed to the rapid development of geosciences. It was discovered that the rock formations were arranged in order of their formation over time. At the same time, geologists and natural scientists began to realize that the age of a fossil could be determined from a geological point of view.

Study of chemical and geological composition

The structure and properties of the geographic shell differ from other layers in chemical and geological composition, and there are also huge differences in temperature and pressure. Modern scientific understanding of the Earth's internal structure is based on inferences made using seismic monitoring together with measurements of gravitational and magnetic fields. By the early 20th century, the development of radiometric dating, which is used to determine the age of minerals and rocks, made it possible to obtain more accurate data regarding the true date, which is approximately 4-4.5 billion years. The development of modern methods of mining for minerals and precious metals, as well as a growing emphasis on the importance of minerals and their natural distribution, also helped stimulate the development of modern geology, including knowledge of what layers make up the geographic envelope of the earth.

Structure and properties of the geographical shell

The geosphere includes the hydrosphere, descending to a depth of approximately ten kilometers above sea level, the earth's crust and part of the atmosphere, extending to a height of up to 30 kilometers. The greatest distance of the shell varies within forty kilometers. This layer is influenced by both terrestrial and space processes. Substances occur in 3 physical states, and can be composed of the smallest elementary particles such as atoms, ions and molecules, and also include many additional multi-component structures. The structure of the geographical envelope is usually considered in the form of a community of natural and social phenomena. The components of the geographic envelope are presented in the form of rocks in the earth's crust, air, water, soil and biogeocenoses.

Characteristic features of the geosphere

The structure and properties of the geographical shell imply the presence of an important number of characteristic features. These include: integrity, cycle of matter, rhythm and constant development.

1. Integrity is determined by the results of the continuous exchange of substances and energy, and the combination of all components connects them into one material whole, where the transformation of any of the links can lead to global changes in all the others.
2. The geographic envelope is characterized by the presence of a cyclical circulation of matter, for example, atmospheric circulation and oceanic surface currents. More complex processes are accompanied by a change in the aggregate composition of matter. In other cycles there is a chemical transformation of matter or the so-called biological cycle.
3. Another feature of the shell is its rhythm, that is, the repetition of various processes and phenomena over time. This is caused largely by the will of astronomical and geological forces. There are 24-hour rhythms (day and night), annual rhythms, and rhythms that occur over the course of a century (for example, 30-year cycles in which there are fluctuations in climate, glaciers, lake levels and river volumes). There are even rhythms that occur over centuries (for example, the alternation of a phase of cool and wet climate with a phase of hot and dry, occurring once every 1800-1900 years). Geological rhythms can last from 200 to 240 million years and so on.
4. The structure and properties of the geographical shell are directly related to the continuity of development.

Continuous development

There are some results and features of continuous development. First, there is a local separation of continents, oceans and seabeds. This distinction is influenced by the spatial features of the geographic structure, including geographic and altitudinal zoning. Secondly, there is polar asymmetry, manifested in the presence of significant differences between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

This is manifested, for example, in the distribution of continents and oceans, climate zones, the composition of flora and fauna, types and forms of reliefs and landscapes. Thirdly, development in the geosphere is inextricably linked with spatial and natural heterogeneity. This ultimately leads to the fact that different levels of the evolutionary process can be simultaneously observed in different regions. For example, the ancient Ice Age began and ended at different times in different parts of the earth. In certain natural areas the climate becomes wetter, while in others the opposite is true.

Lithosphere

The structure of the geographic shell includes a component such as the lithosphere. This is the solid, outer part of the earth, extending to a depth of about 100 kilometers. This layer includes the crust and the upper part of the mantle. The strongest and hardest layer of the Earth is associated with such a concept as tectonic activity. The lithosphere is divided into 15 major lithospheres: North American, Caribbean, South American, Scottish, Antarctic, Eurasian, Arabian, African, Indian, Philippine, Australian, Pacific, Juan de Fuca, Cocos and Nazca. The composition of the Earth's geographic envelope in these areas is characterized by the presence of various types of lithospheric crust and mantle rocks. The lithospheric crust is characterized by continental gneiss and oceanic gabbro. Below this boundary, in the upper layers of the mantle, peridotite occurs, the rocks mainly consisting of the minerals olivine and pyroxene.

Component Interaction

The geographical envelope includes four natural geospheres: lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. Water evaporates from the seas and oceans, winds move air currents to land, where precipitation forms and falls, which returns to the world's oceans in various ways. The biological cycle of the plant kingdom consists of the transformation of inorganic matter into organic matter. After the death of living organisms, organic substances return to the earth's crust, gradually transforming into inorganic substances.

Properties of the geographic shell:

1. Possibility of accumulating and converting solar energy.
2. Availability of free energy necessary for a wide variety of natural processes.
3. Unique ability to produce biological diversity and serve as a natural environment for life.
4. The properties of the geographical shell include a huge variety of chemical elements.
5. Energy comes from both space and the deep interior of the earth.

The uniqueness of the geographical shell lies in the fact that organic life arose at the junction of the lithosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere. It is here that the entire human society appeared and is still developing, using the necessary resources for its life activities. The geographic envelope covers the entire planet, which is why it is called a planetary complex, which includes rocks in the earth's crust, air and water, soil and enormous biological diversity.

The largest natural complex of the Earth is the geographical envelope. It includes the lithosphere and atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere, which interact with each other. Thanks to this, an active circulation of energy and substances occurs in nature. Each shell - gas, mineral, living and water - has its own laws of development and existence.

Basic patterns of the geographical envelope:

• geographical zoning;
• the integrity and interconnection of all parts of the shell of the globe;
• rhythmicity – repetition of daily and annual natural phenomena.

Earth's crust

The solid part of the earth, containing rocks, sediment and minerals, is one of the components of the geographical envelope. It contains more than ninety chemical elements that are unevenly distributed over the entire surface of the planet. Iron, magnesium, calcium, aluminum, oxygen, sodium, and potassium make up the majority of all rocks in the lithosphere. They are formed in various ways: under the influence of temperature and pressure, during the redeposition of weathering products and the vital activity of organisms, in the thickness of the earth and during sedimentation from water. There are two types of earth's crust - oceanic and continental, which differ from each other in rock composition and temperature.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere is the most important component of the geographical envelope. It affects the weather and climate, the hydrosphere, the world of flora and fauna. The atmosphere is also divided into several layers, and the geographical envelope includes the troposphere and stratosphere. These layers contain oxygen, which is required for the life cycles of different spheres on the planet. In addition, the atmosphere layer protects the earth's surface from the ultraviolet rays of the Sun.

Hydrosphere

The hydrosphere is the water surface of the earth, which consists of groundwater, rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. The main part of the Earth's water resources is concentrated in the ocean, and the rest is on the continents. The hydrosphere also includes water vapor and clouds. In addition, permafrost, snow and ice cover are also part of the hydrosphere.

Biosphere and anthroposphere

The biosphere is a multi-shell of the planet, which includes the world of flora and fauna, hydrosphere, atmosphere and lithosphere, which interact with each other. A change in one of the components of the biosphere leads to significant changes in the entire ecosystem of the planet. The geographical envelope of the earth can also include the anthroposphere - the sphere in which people and nature interact.

The shell of the Earth, within which the lower layers of the atmosphere, the upper parts of the lithosphere, the entire hydrosphere and biosphere mutually penetrate each other and interact, is called geographical envelope(earth shell) All components of the geographical shell interact with each other.

The geographic envelope does not have sharp boundaries. Many scientists believe that its thickness is on average 55 km. The geographic envelope is sometimes called the natural environment or simply nature.

Properties of the geographic shell.

Only in the geographical shell are there substances in solid, liquid and gaseous states, which is of great importance for all processes occurring in the geographical shell, and above all for the emergence of life. Only here, near the solid surface of the Earth, life first arose, and then man and human society appeared, for the existence and development of which there are all the conditions: air, water, rocks and minerals, solar heat and light, soil, vegetation, bacterial and animal life .

All processes in the geographic envelope occur under the influence of solar energy and, to a lesser extent, internal earthly energy sources. Thus, properties of the geographic envelope : integrity, rhythm, zoning .

Integrity of civil defense manifests itself in the fact that a change in one component of nature inevitably causes a change in all the others. These changes can evenly cover the entire geographical envelope and manifest themselves in some of its individual parts, influencing other parts.

Rhythm natural phenomena lies in the recurrence of similar phenomena over time. Examples of rhythmicity: daily and annual periods of the Earth's rotation; long periods of mountain building and climate change on Earth; periods of change in solar activity. The study of rhythms is important for forecasting processes and phenomena occurring in the geographic environment.

Zoning – a natural change in all components of GO from the equator to the poles. It is caused by the rotation of the spherical Earth with a certain tilt of the axis of rotation around the Sun. Depending on the geographic latitude, solar radiation is distributed zonally and causes changes in climates, soils, vegetation and other components of the geographic envelope. The world law of zoning of the geographical envelope is manifested in its division into geographical zones and natural zones. On its basis, a physical-geographical zoning of the Earth and its individual sections is carried out.

Simultaneously with zonal ones there are also azonal factors , related to the internal energy of the Earth (relief, height, configuration of continents). They disrupt the zonal distribution of GO components. In any place on the globe, zonal and azonal factors act simultaneously.

Cycle of matter and energy

The circulation of matter and energy is the most important mechanism of natural processes of the geographical envelope. There are various cycles of matter and energy: air cycles in the atmosphere, the earth’s crust, water cycles, etc.

For the geographical envelope, it is of great importance The water cycle, which is carried out due to the movement of air masses. Without water there can be no life.

A huge role in the life of the geographical shell belongs to biological cycle. In green plants, as is known, organic substances are formed from carbon dioxide and water in the light, which serve as food for animals. Animals and plants, after they die, are decomposed by bacteria and fungi into minerals, which are then reabsorbed by green plants.

The leading role in all cycles belongs to air cycle in the troposphere, which includes the entire system of winds and vertical air movement. The movement of air in the troposphere draws the hydrosphere into the global cycle, forming the global water cycle.

Each subsequent cycle is different from the previous ones. It does not form a vicious circle. Plants, for example, take nutrients from the soil, and when they die, they give them back much more, since the organic mass of plants is created mainly by atmospheric carbon dioxide, and not by substances coming from the soil.

The role of living organisms in the formation of nature.

Life makes our planet unique. Life processes consist of three main stages: the creation of primary production as a result of photosynthesis of organic matter; transformation of primary (plant) products into secondary (animal) products; destruction of primary and secondary biological products by bacteria and fungi. Without these processes life is impossible. Living organisms include: plants, animals, bacteria and fungi. Each group (kingdom) of living organisms plays a specific role in the development of nature.

Under the influence of living organisms, there is more oxygen in the air and a decrease in carbon dioxide content. Green plants are the main source of atmospheric oxygen. Another thing was the composition of the World Ocean. Rocks of organic origin appeared in the lithosphere. Deposits of coal and oil, most limestone deposits are the result of the activity of living organisms.